A RESIDENT has been jailed for three months for not paying council tax amounting to £4,000.

Graham Harper of Newhall Close, Tattenhall, who was sentenced at Chester magistrates, had been issued with a total of five summons dating back to 1997 concerning council tax owed relating to four properties.

The civil case was brought by Chester City Council who had accused Mr Harper of culpable neglect.

Cllr Reggie Jones (Lab, Blacon Hall), portfolio holder for money and property, said: 'The message we want to get out is we are proactive in collecting money owed by people and we are tough on people who don't pay their council tax.

'But having said that, what we are saying is we want to be seen to be firm but fair. This fellow had five summons from four different properties.

'He had reminders, he had arrangements put in place which he has agreed to, so we could help him to pay his outstanding debt. He has been to court on several occasions, we have tried to support him and make it easy for him to pay. It seems in this instance this fellow has just avoided any serious attempts to pay the council tax.'

Cllr Jones said the city council collected 99.3% of the council tax leaving just a few thousand pounds outstanding. He said there were different reasons why people did not pay. In some cases, it was because the householder had died and in such cases the money was clearly not sought.

'Council tax pays for all kinds of public services: social services, education, police, fire, transport, sport and recreation, refuse collection,' he added.

'Prison is a last resort but given the fact this chap had five different summons at four different properties, there comes a point where you must take decisive action. The magistrates in this case have taken decisive action and it sends a clear signal to people that you must pay the council tax. Otherwise it falls on other council tax payers and that's not fair, especially when people take advantage of public services.'

Mr Harper's mother, who did not wish to be named, said: 'It's quite a shock to us all at the moment.'

She added a lawyer was working on the case to try and get her son released from prison. Mr Harper was not represented when he was sentenced last Monday.

'It's actually not true because we have proof that he paid,' she said.

Figures are not available to anticipate this year's council tax levels but the city council says its element for a band D property is expected to rise by 5.9% and an increase around the level of inflation is being suggested in terms of the county council proportion of the bill.

Cheshire police and the fire services have not indicated by how much their respective components are likely to increase.

Cllr Jones said the council tax situation was confusing because only a third of local public services were paid for through the council tax with the rest coming from government in the form of grants and business rate rebates.